Ministry with the heart of an educator

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Our starting point is the Gospel with all that it demands of us -
love, forgiveness, justice, solidarity with the poor and rejected

With a contemplative heart inhabited by the spirit,
we listen to the world as it shares its hopes and suffering.
Here we find the Heart of Jesus incarnate in history, which
calls us to new relationships with others and with all
creation as one bodyChapter 200 JPIC

We want to continue to walk with young people. We need to be present with them all in their search for God, meaning and the value of life. Chapter 2008

Contemplating Jesus we learn from His attitudes and
responses how in all our relationships to witness to the
liberating power of His loveConstitutions para 15

Wherever we are sent, whatever our work may be, our lives will be inspired by the love of the Heart of Jesus and the desire of making Him knownConstitutions para 13

Marianne Tavares rscj

Rachael Kessler writes that the soul of education is ‘helping (students) find connection, compassion …” Thomas Moore has written about the soul as educator and that

“education is … making visible what is hidden as a seed”.

These words resonate with how I see myself as an educator in health care relating to patients, families and colleagues. I believe that the person has the answer, the knowledge, the wisdom in their own depths and we are here to walk alongside.

There is a Chinese proverb that says “Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner anywhere”. I find that when I am open to receiving as well as giving in any relationship it can free the other person to “find connection” and make visible (to themselves) what may have been hidden as a seed (within themselves). As a complementary therapist, I may be using ‘touch’, listening/talking, or just chatting but it is always moment of wonder to witness the other making a connection which enlightens, liberates and empowers.

Marianne Tavares rscj

Steph Romaine rscj

To discover and make known the love of the Heart of Christ is the gift we have been entrusted with as rscj. Over the years we have done this in a variety of ways through the work of education.

As an educator this means for me personally, to help to draw out the full human and Christian potential of each person. For some years I enjoyed doing this through teaching in our boarding schools. I then moved on to work with adults as a Counsellor and Therapist and found that the reflective process of listening to the stories of those who came to me often enabled each person to grow in freedom.

As each person grew in self-knowledge and understanding they were often able to let go of their pain and some of their less free ways of relating and become more fully the person they were created to be. Three years ago I took a sideways step and let God into the relationship more overtly. There were now 3 of us in the room! I began accompanying people on their Spiritual journeys at our small Retreat Centre in Brecon. This marked a shift in my own personal journey as I began to walk with God and those others and share their experience of the presence and absence of God in their lives in a more overt way than I had done before.

The privilege of accompanying others is a very enriching gift, I feel I invariably gain more than I give. The silence and the nature here at Llannerchwen offers the potential for personal growth and development as do the very varied jobs involved in running a small Retreat Centre. In using my body, mind and spirit in the work I do here, I find I am a more balanced and whole person.

Steph Romaine rscj

Sheila McNamara rscj

I have lived in community in Newcastle for almost 9 years. My ministry outside of the house is at St Antony’s Priory in Durham which is an Ecumenical Spirituality Centre in the heart of Durham City. My work as part of the Team there involves offering Spiritual Direction to a number of people, individual and group supervision, leading quiet/reflection days, accompanying people on individually guided retreats and teaching on the Spiritual Direction course training others in accompaniment. An important part of my work too is working with teachers and other school staff in nurturing the spirituality of the educator – offering space for reflection, retreat, prayer and quiet to busy teachers. I find all of these aspects of ministry humbling, privileged and life-giving.

As part of our community ministry I am involved in offering regular times of prayer and reflection to groups who meet here including a group of young teachers and another group of young women who share generously of themselves and teach me a lot. I also try to be as available as I can for the hospitality ministry of the house.

Sheila McNamara rscj

Teresa in Indonesia

Teresa lives in the Lenteng Agung community in Jakarta and is serving as Area Treasurer in Indonesia.

Teresa Ryden rscj

Although we have prayer and ministry on separate pages on this site, for us prayer and ministry are integrated in our lives. 'through our contemplative presence to God in prayer and ministry we discover and reveal the love of the heart of God.'